Washing machine for bearings



22, 1950 w. B. HEANEY I WASHING MACHINE FOR BEARINGS Filed July 23, 1945 Patented Aug. 22, 1950 WASHING MAJCHINETFOR BEARINGS William B. Heaney,Phoenix, Aria Application July 23, 1945, Seri'aZliNoafilififiOlfi some (enlarging)? present invention relates to improvements *iii-a was ng' machine for bearings, and itslprin- 'cipial obj 'beaningswrthelike may lee-"cleaned thoroughly anti-expeditiously; and comparatiyly-ilittle is-to-previdea s-iinple 'devioe whereby eiiort; I f

More particularly it is proposed to provide a machiheof thechar-acter dbscribed i n a lfihuid cleaning--medium is forced throughi the {hearings or agitatedabout the 'bearings' by means "of'air'pres'sure. I

It fis further proposed toprevide mounting means fertile-bearing whereby the latter is confinedfin annular passage, so=that lieu id -orair fbrced" through the assage is made to through-the bearing 'withthe" desired cleaning effect. 7 g

Further objects and advantages of my invention'wiI-l appear as the specification proceeds, and

be fully defined in the claims hereto attached.

The preferred forms of my invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming part of this application, in which:

Figure 1 shows a vertical section through one form of my cleaning machine; and

Figure 2, a vertical section through a modified form of my cleaning machine.

While I have shown only the preferred forms of my invention, it should be understood that 1:

various changes or modifications may be made within the scope of the claims hereto attached without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, and particularly to the form shown in Figure 1, my invention comprises a tank I of suitable height and formed with a partition 2 substantially intermediate its height, whereby the tank is divided into an upper chamber 3 and a lower chamber 4.

The tank has a removable cover or lid 5 which may be secured upon the tank in any suitable manner.

The partition has one or more cups 6 mounted thereon, the cups being formed with spherical or conical side walls expanding from the bottom tothe novel ieatures'oi cleaifiing macl'iiliie? wille n er, andthat forldifiere ntrsizes of bearings; .difierent-iholdingmembersmay be provided.

In this manner the bearings are supported between! the wallsofi the cups and the holding tmembers and the cups'anct the liolding members-iorm an annular passage in: which-eacnbearingie mounted.

1 This-annular passageis connected to the lower chamber by means of a port It extendingdownwardly from the bottom of each cup.

Air maybe admitted under pressure through a: conduit H- controlleduby -a valve tidal-id termi nating, near the bottom of-the tank ,-inaspiral |3=-substantially coextensive withv the size-of the tank and: spaced slightly fromthe bottom there- 'Ehe=spiral I3 is formed with a large number ofa-per-tures M-thnoughwhichair may escape into theliquid. In this-ma-nner,,ai-r bubbles may be made' to risathroughout the'tank-area for agitating the liquid.

The rising air bubbles pass through the ports 10 and the bearings, and agitate the cleaning fluid about the same, so as to effect a thorough cleaning of the bearings.

An outlet I5 for the air is provided at the upper end of the upper chamber, and is controlled by means of a valve I6.

The bottom of the tank may be made concave, as shown at H, to form a sump, into which dirt and impurities may collect to be discharged through a drain pipe [8, having a valve 19.

In operation, the bearings are first placed in the respective cups and secured in place by means of the holding members i. The tank is then filled with a cleaning fluid up to a height above the bearing holding cups, as shown in Figure 1.

Next, compressed air is introduced through the pipe H, by opening the valve l2, and the rising air bubbles are forced through the port It and the bearings, agitating the liquid about the same for cleaning the bearings.

In the form shown in Figure 2, a somewhat different principle is employed. The tank and the mountings for the bearings may be substantially the same as in the form previously described, but the ports I!) connect into conduits 20 extending downwardly into the lower chamber to a point near the bottom thereof.

Air is admitted into the lower chamber through a pipe 2| controlled by a valve 22, the pipe 2| preferably entering in the upper portion of the lower chamber.

A similar pipe 23 is provided to admit air under pressure into the upper chamber, and this pipe 3 is controlled by a valve 24. An air outlet 25 is furnished in the top of the tank and is controlled by means of a valve 26.

A similar air outlet may be provided in the upper portion of the lower chamber.

In this form of my invention all of the liquid is forced through the bearings. After the bearings have been positioned in the manner previously described, and the tank has been filled with liquid, at least to the height of the partition, as shown in Figure 2, the valve 22 is opened and air is admitted into the lower chamber under pressure.

The air forces the liquid level down, and causes the liquid to pass, under pressure, through the conduits 20 and the passages accommodating the bearings, with the desired cleaning efiect.

After the lower chamber has been emptied, the air will discharge through the conduits '20 and the bearings into'the upper chamber.

In case too much air should remain in the lower chamber, a special outlet pipe may be arranged for the same.

The process may now be reversed by closing thevalve 22 and opening the valve 24, which forces the liquid to pass through the bearings in reverse direction. This process may be repeated until the bearings are thoroughly cleaned.

I claim:

1. In a washing machine for bearings and the like, a tank for holding a cleaning liquid, a fiat, horizontal partition mounted in the tank substantially midway of the height thereof so as to divide the tank into an upper and a lower chamber of substantiall the same size, a top closure for the upper chamber, a cup member mounted on the partition and having a flaring side wall adapted to have a bearing seated thereon, means for seating the bearing on the cup 4 member shaped to close the hole in the bearing, a tube connecting the bottom of the cup member with the lower portion of the lower chamber, means for admitting a pressure medium into the lower chamber for forcing the liquid through the tube and the bearing from below, and means for admittin a pressure medium into the upper chamber for forcing the liquid through the bearing and the tube from above.

2. A washing machine as defined in claim 1. in which the cup member has spring fingers operable for releasably holding the bearing seating means.

WILLIAM B. HEANEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name r Date 920,171 Parker May 4, 1909 1,113,765 Fearon Oct. 13, 1914 1,766,208 Anstiss June 24, 1930 1,894,786 Pew Jan. 17, 1933 1,991,542 Cavanaugh Feb. 19, 1935 2,035,513 'Speranza Mar. 31, 1936 2,060,144 Vincent Nov. 10, 1936 2,137,660 Welke Nov. 22, 1938 2,140,909 Green Dec. 20, 1938 2,160,214 Jackson May 30, 1939 2,168,746 Saal Aug. 8, 1939 2,208,244 Born July 16, 1940 2,210,478 Berg Aug. 6, 1940 2,226,870 McDevitt Dec. 31, 1940 2,218,880 Hanson Oct. 22, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 107,864 Switzerland Nov. 17, 1924 

